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Staff Picks - Leigh

Leigh's been working at book and music shops in the area since 2003. She collects too many books and records. Her favorites are fragments, short stories, essays, articles, lists, recipes, songs, poems, tweets and other little windows into worlds.

This is a hilarious, brutal, dark little mofo of a novel. Halle Butler brings incredible realism and humor to dissociation, depression, and alienation. Somehow, I'm rooting for Jillian and Megan, no matter if they won't root for themselves, or each other; Somehow, I hate them both, or only one of them, or yeah BOTH; somehow, I feel a little less alone. --Leigh

“WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES when we go against our instincts? What are the consequences of not speaking out? What are the consequences of guilt, shame, and doubt?” (p.114) TTW is one of my favorite writers. Here she reckons with the fact of her mother’s empty diaries, left to Terry upon her death. Gems of insight & powerful wisdom on voice abound. Definitely worth repeated reading, and especially timely now. --Leigh

The first US publication of this blissfully weird, totally necessary novel since the mid-1970s! It’s about time to reintroduce it, as the central themes remain strikingly current: eco-disaster, endless flight and pursuit, political overreach. For fans of literary/slipstream/SF like JG Ballard, Kafka, Kelly Link, The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K LeGuin -- this is experimental in form, dreamlike, hallucinogenic, destabilizing and unforgettable. --Leigh

This is a ghost story of epic proportions layered on a captivating family drama layered on a commentary on the criminal justice system in the United States. I’m continually struck by the power of Jesmyn Ward’s writing, but more so by her ability to show her characters empathy and understanding - even when they’re at their worst. Should win the 2017 National Book Award for Fiction. --Leigh

A dog memoir, but so much more. Eileen's beloved dog, Rosie, is the center from which every chapter of this book unfolds. It’s a book about the bonds we forge with animals and our experiences of grief and dying. It’s a challenge to read in some places, and each chapter is stylistically different but I’d encourage anyone to pick it up for the glimmers of doggy joy woven through Myles’ prose like a tapestry. --Leigh

Long awaited biography of the complex and controversial punk/poet/novelist Kathy Acker written by Kris Kraus. Totally engaging, honest, deeply researched and necessary. For fans of all that blood and guts stuff. --Leigh

Lockwood's wit and feel for language stand out in this memoir of her upbringing in and temporary return as an adult to her father's rectory. A fascinating and personal look at faith, the Catholic Church, family and voice. I loved it cover to cover. Check out her book Motherland Fatherland Homelandsexuals in the poetry section. --Leigh

Kunzru has created a captivating and literary horror novel about race and music in America - haunted by the distorted echoes of a history of exploitation and appropriation. Beautiful writing, extra hard to put down. --Leigh

A thoughtful, intimate portrait of the end of a marriage. When the narrator follows her missing husband to an island off the coast of Greece, they've already been separated for months, but the true parting is still to come. --Leigh

This short, frightening and surreal novel pulled me in and didn't let me go for quite a while after it was finished. This is the first piece of Samanta Schweblin's writing to be translated from her native Spanish into English -- I can't wait for more. --Leigh

An apocalyptic novel written in 1993, set in the 2020s and & '30s during the rule of a demagogue, risen to power on a wave of the nation's insecurities with promises of making America great again (yes, really). A young black woman with hyperempathy, a new faith and a greater vision for humanity heads North as a refugee from a failed, walled suburbia. Essential reading, especially in this gorgeous gift edition with a new introduction by Gloria Steinem. --Leigh

Depressive, obsessive, neurotic David Nowak inherits his family's piano manufacturing fortune in high school. He leaves New York for world travel, meets and marries a young woman named Jia-Hui in Taiwan. He renames her Daisy upon their return to the U.S. to build a homestead in the woods of Northern California. There they raise two children, William and Gillian, for years without any influence beyond their own, the books in the house and piano lessons. Wang's fantastically moving writing pulls the reader into a gothic epic of family and identity. Chilling, suspenseful; I promise you've never read anything like it. --Leigh

Devastated by the loss of his wife, Dad struggles to take care of The Boys, himself, and finish his book on Ted Hughes. Crow moves in, wild and tender, protector and therapist. He'll stay "until you don't need me anymore." Immensely powerful little fable of loss and poetry. --Leigh

Maybe the best anthology of short fiction coming in 2016. Introduced by an essay on the politics and art of the 1980s. Full of blissfully transgressive masterpieces by some of the best writers; Eileen Myles, Mary Gaitskill, Jamaica Kincaid and Dodie Bellamy are just a few. --Leigh

Evie Wyld is a creepily talented novelist. In this graphic memoir of a few childhood years, she's young and terrified by sharks. On these pages they are illustrated brilliantly by Joe Sumner, following her about from the wilderness of New South Wales to the streets of London. --Leigh

Chinaka Hodge is a poet, educator, playwright and screenwriter living in Oakland. She writes here about her love life through the lens of hip-hop. This is real, intelligent, feminist and emotionally resonant poetry. Leigh

Brilliant and terrifying! Much of the book is about hunger and appetites. Self-imposed physical hunger. Spiritual hunger. Hunger for human contact. Hunger for depth of meaning and reality. An awesome take on advertising and how our consumer economy creates hungers that we don't know what to do with, that can't be sated. Strangely, darkly funny. Characters spend sizeable sections watching TV ads that wouldn't feel out of place in some kind of horrific Adult Swim. Alexandra Kleeman is my dream girl. --Leigh

I was so lucky to hear Gregory Pardlo read from this Pulitzer Prize-winning book on a rainy May evening in Brooklyn. It's incredibly smart while remaining approachable, and so moving. Pair with "Citizen" by Claudia Rankine and Ta-Nehisi Coates' "Between the World and Me". --Leigh

Sam Delany's early writing is a contender for my favorite science fiction of all time. His words are strange and lovely. My favorite here is the Jewels of Aptor. Now if only we can get "Stars In My Pocket, Like Grains of Sand" back into print... --Leigh

The second book in a planned trilogy for young adults, wonderful for grownups as well. Sophie Swankowski is from a rough town, but she's tough. She's got magic on her side. This volume follows her journey with her (quasi-)fairy godmother - a filthy, often annoyed mermaid named Syrena - to Poland where she will learn more about her role in saving the world from a poet! Lots of fun. Dark, gritty, but ultimately uplifting fairytale drama. Check out Book 1, Mermaid in Chelsea Creek, if you haven't already. -- Leigh

It's hard for me to describe Angel Carter without framing her as a sort of fiary godmother of my favorite more recent short fiction. Her versions of classic fairy tales are skewed just enough to the dark and sexy side. If you like short fiction described with keywords like "slipstream" or "fabulist", or just the weird and creepy, check her out. This anniversary version has a great package, and Kelly Link's intro is on point. --Leigh

Kelly Link's new collection of short stories is exciting, full of wonder, and when I say I couldn't put it down I mean I did not sleep. I took notes. Every story in it made me exclaim loudly to myself and others! It freaked me out and I loved every second.

A satirical apocalyptic horror novel that skewers our society's gendered beauty standards. An outbreak that turns beautiful women into crazed and violent monsters! The narrative style is unexpected and effective -- especially the imagined effect a virus like this might have on media and advertising. Yes - you will have to suspend your disbelief -- this one's social science, not virology -- I promise you, it's worth it. --Leigh

From the author of The Liar’s Club and Lit -- who could be better to teach us the art of memoir than essential American storyteller Mary Karr? In addition to advice for aspiring and developing memoirists, the book includes analysis of Karr’s favorite must-read memoirs.

James Tracy has been a housing activist in the Bay Area since before Google existed. This book is essential reading. Tech boom 2.0 is different from the first boom in significant ways (like tax breaks and special exemptions for tech companies) that are endangering local culture and livelihoods. If you have been interested in recent news articles on rising rents and “Google bus” protests or believe in affordable housing as a human right I recommend checking this one out. --Leigh

Intimately focuses on a marriage troubled by grief while backing up to reveal an alternate Indianapolis, increasingly deserted, under the thumb of Big Pharma and an undefinable Secret Law. Experimental and surreal -- clear and exciting prose -- the freshest, best novel I've read in quite a while. Couldn’t put it down! --Leigh

Sean survives a violent and disfiguring accident in his teenage years and relies on his imagination to bring him through his lengthy recovery and rehabilitation. He creates a story based role playing game which comes to support him, and causes turmoil for some of its players. I was surprised at how much I recognized myself in Sean. This book spurs empathy. If you have loved a Mountain Goats song, you will recognize Darnielle’s mastery of lyrical writing. --Leigh

A fox-hunt carried on through generations lands on Grass, a planet with no horses, dogs or foxes, and develops from there. This book is worth it just for the descriptions of the planet Grass and its inhabitants, but Tepper’s character development and suspense will keep you at the edge of your seat. A classic. --Leigh

Jake sleeps with a hammer under her pillow, trusts no one, and talks to her dog (Dog) and the other animals on her isolated sheep farm. Her unsettling and violent past is revealed through reverse flashbacks. The writing is gruesome and viscerally beautiful. --Leigh

Lauret Savoy overlays the cultural and natural histories of the American landscape; she deftly ties place and geology into our ideas of race, territory, migration and displacement. Written in wholly singular prose, Trace could not be more relevant or timely.

This colorful and accessible history revisits six battles of the 20th Century examining the overconfidence and arrogance that often follows success and leads to disaster. Hubris is Sir Alistair Horne’s 25th book and his self-identified “summa”.

will: [force you to laugh loudly in public] [rid you of unnecessary raccoon-fearing weaklings] [make you look into the possibility of collecting taxidermy art (maybe)] [teach you a bit about living with depression if you don’t already know all about it] [help you resolve to enjoy good moments; be furiously happy (almost certainly)]

Yosemite in The Fifties chronicles the historic first climbs of Yosemite’s “mile-high” granite walls and the men who popularized adventure mountaineering. First-person narratives, restored archival photos and memorabilia showcase a classic era of exploration.